Enter Cato - won't get into how he winds up in Britain - don't want to spoil the surprise - and you have all the ingredients for a Macro/Cato adventure. Just the two of them? No. It seems there are a number of retired legionaries in the ancient Roman equivalent of a retirement village and they aren't ready to quite give up either and fade peacefully into the night. Eventually, you have the obligatory battle scenes, but it's nothing like legions fighting off the barbarians and the like. Add in the help of a native British tribe and it's still kind of tame. So if you're expecting a lot of blood and guts, you won't find it - there is some but its minor in comparison to earlier adventures.

So I've been avoiding (intentionally or not) these books for a while now. It seems like everyone who's really excited about Roman military fiction just gushes over Scarrow's books. And that's why I've been a little nervous about them. Military fiction fanboys are a whole different breed from historical fiction ones.* At some level people who seek out military fiction expect to see an experience they can relate to. When centurions issue commands to their men they want to feel not "how interesting the way the Roman class structure coexists with army ranks" but "ah, I remember when my NCOs acted like that." And that is perhaps not an approach I find rewarding. Christian Cameron (one of the best writers of ancient military fiction) sums it up best: there's no such thing as military h The most torturous part? The fact I know I have almost ten more books in this series before it'll be complete (or at least up to date) without even including the various tangential off-shoots. What strikes me most about this book, and to a certain extent the previous book in the series too, is just how different it is to the author's non-Roman period fiction. The battle scenes are explicit, without gratuitous horror. The main characters Cato and Macro, are well-rounded and believable. However, having lived in Camulodunum, with a wealth of local knowledge I have a lot of sympathy for the Iceni and Boudica! They were horribly exploited and betrayed by the Romans.Despite Death to the Emperor being the first book I’ve read in the series, I never felt at a loss. The author provides sufficient detail about previous events to help make sense of things but not too much that you feel you’ve learned everything there is to know. Although this is my first introduction to Centurion Macro and Prefect Cato, I loved their partnership borne of mutual respect and a soldierly comradeship forged in the heat of battle. For much of the book, though, they find themselves apart, each wishing they had the other beside them for support and advice, and because of their complementary skills. This is the twentieth book in the Eagles of the Empire Series, and as usual an excellent read. Full of great characters and with a real sense of life in the Roman Empire. Hace falta ver a nuestro querido Macro en la acción, pero tenía que pasar, pero ahora Cato dependera más de él y de Apolonio, no digamos de los personajes nuevos que entran a la saga, vamos a ver cómo se desarrollan en las que vienen. Claro que ahora rompe la acción bélica por una acción socia con las vivencias de una pandemia y no digamos de los que aprovechan la situación (aún teniendo una causa justa) pero para los romanos eran bárbaros.e gusto la presentación de esta tribu de la cual admito que lo había escuchado previamente o no recuerdo haberla oído o leído. Por lo que ese aire nuevo al final no fue tan bueno eh? (Mal chiste, yo se). What is to follow is a Roman adventure with plenty of action, no doubt about that, but its also a book with a similar theme as in "Invictus", in what the local tribal revolt is concerned, but now adding to it is a deadly pestilence and with only Cato in the headlines an a supporting role for Apollonius, so that overall this engaging book is somewhat inferior to its predecessors in intensity, interaction, warfare and (real) historical battles against fearsome opponents like the Parthians, or the tribes from Germania, or the Celts from Britannia, and I can only hope that the author will return to that kind of formula again. Simon Scarrow is a British author of historical fictional novels. He was born on October 03, 1962. Simon’s novels have been published in the USA and translation all around the world. Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author.

One of the protagonists Quintus Licinius Cato has just arrived as the new young recruit in the Second Legion, which is considered as the toughest Roman Army. Initially, he finds it difficult to adjust to the rigorous military life and he also has to face the disgust from his colleagues as he gets appointed at a higher rank because of his connection with the Imperial Palace. The plot isn't groundbreaking but allows for some great action such as the siege in the German village which was excellently done and allowed Cato to really shine and show his potential, especially with his bravery.Lavinia appears in the first two books and is the lover of both Cato and Vitellius. She is a slave-girl who is owned by Flavia, Vespasian's wife. In The Eagle's Conquest she betrays Cato and unwittingly helps Vitellius try to assassinate the Emperor. However, when the plot fails Vitellius kills both her and the assassin to cover himself.

As you might expect, the book is full of authentic detail about weaponry, military strategy, social and religious customs and much, much more. There are some terrific set pieces such as the assault on the island of Mona which involves not just a battle against a ferocious enemy but against the elements too. Battle scenes are brought thrillingly to life, putting the reader right in the heart of the action. ‘The two sides became a heaving mass of helmets, crests, blades, spears, swords and axes, amid sprays of crimson and a cacophany of weapns clashing and thudding home on shields and limbs’. Claudius: Emperor of Rome, portrayed in The Eagle's Conquest and Praetorian as a forgetful, half-witted buffoon. In Camulodunum Macro will meet other veterans under the leadership of Magistrate Ramirus, and they will have a severe battle against the Trinovantes tribe, where they are left to their own devices by a coward of a procurator called, Decianus Catus, and where they have to fight for their lives to reach their stronghold again, while not much later on Cato will make his appearance in Camulodunum with his son, Julius, and his woman, Claudia Acte, the supposed dead ex-mistress of Emperor Nero, and right from the start Cato is making plans to set things right for Macro and his family in Londinium. This is the 21st installment in the author's "Eagles of the Empire" series which seems like it may be coming to an end in a book or two - but then again, maybe not. Out of all the books in the series, this is most definitely the best. And when you get to the end, you know there will be at least one more because there are too many loose ends.

Publication Order of Eagle Books

This, I have to say, is also the first in the series that I can remember ending in a definite cliffhanger ... The Revolution Quartet centres upon the lives of Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington. The first book in the quartet starts in 1769, and follows the two young men through their youth and on to their military careers.

Their next campaign will be the invasion of Britannia with the Roman army, until in Britannia they will stumble into a conspiracy to overthrow the Emperor.Macro has retired to Britain with his wife, Petronella, to enjoy a peaceful life together farming their patch of veteran's land and assisting his mother in the inn she and he together owned in Londinium. Cato was also heading for Britain, having had to leave Rome swiftly and secretly to protect Claudia, Nero's ex lover. Together again, they face more blood and battling than any retired veteran might reasonably expect. The Eagle's Prophecy Audiobook | Simon Scarrow | Audible.co.uk". Audible . Retrieved 4 January 2020. Having said that, I do find the repeated and prolonged detail of armed combat rather - well, boring. Maybe it's a girly thing, but to me, having every thrust, twist and parry described, every feint and shifting of weight, every gush of blood and clatter of sword on sword, is rather like having to read a prolonged description of every mouthful a person eats whenever they sit down to a meal. I mean, maybe the first time it's good to immerse the reader in the experience, but by the tenth time ... I read a lot of roman story writers Anthony Riches, SJA Turney and they all say you can only work with actual real life people who were in the provinces at the time.